Quotables

‘If I want to, I can take Kiev in two weeks.’

Russian President Vladimir Putin in a private conversation with Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Union’s Commission, who recounted the conversation to an Italian newspaper.

‘My hands are numb and tingling, and it’s difficult sleeping at night, and I was working in the field every day.’

Kenneth Bae, 46, one of three Americans detained in North Korea, on his condition. Bae suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, and kidney stones. Bae and detainees Matthew Todd Miller and Jeffrey Edward Fowle spoke with a reporter on Sept. 1 (see Dispatches in this issue).

‘It’s time Mr. Obama started emphasizing what the United States can do instead of what it cannot.’

The Washington Post Editorial Board, in an editorial criticizing President Obama’s foreign policy.

‘Women’s concerns are not seen as relevant here.’

Lesbian feminist activist Sheila Jeffreys on policies that allow transgender men to use women’s bathrooms. Jeffreys pointed out that men wearing women’s clothes have sexually harassed women in bathrooms: “The entry of male-bodied transgenders into women’s facilities or the elimination of women’s facilities in favour of ‘gender-neutral’ bathrooms is likely to endanger women’s safety.”

‘Americans are being recruited in a litany of ways. Social media is a big way.’

FBI investigator Kyle Loven on ISIS successfully recruiting at least 100 American Muslims to fight in Syria. A second American Muslim, Abdirahmaan Muhumed, 29, has been reported killed in the fighting. He reportedly once worked for Delta Global Services and had security clearance at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

‘Today is the darkest day of the history of Hong Kong’s democratic development.’

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Benny Tai Yiu-ting on updated rules that require candidates for the 2017 election for chief executive of Hong Kong to acquire approval from a committee filled with Beijing loyalists (see Dispatches in this issue). Pro-democracy lawmakers say China is breaking its promise of a democratic vote in the 2017 election